Student creativity is reshaping stations and platforms across Britain in a year framed by Railway 200 celebrations.
Within this movement, Students Paint Murals at Railway Platforms becomes more than a headline; it marks real installations, public showcases, and curriculum-linked projects that connect communities to two centuries of rail innovation.
Expect locally rooted stories, careful curation, and visible learning outcomes that commuters encounter every day.
Birmingham New Street: Student Art for Railway 200
Birmingham New Street unveiled nearly 30 student-created works in early June 2025, installing drawings that connect the railway to city pioneers Boulton, Watt, and Murdoch, alongside brands like Cadbury, Dunlop, and HP Sauce.
The display involved six schools and colleges across the city and is part of the official Railway 200 programme.
100,000 Daily Users
Network Rail’s Central route highlighted the station’s civic role—more than 100,000 daily users engage with the space—framing the exhibit as community learning in public view.
Local coverage and sector outlets echoed those details, emphasizing the cross-school collaboration and the link to Birmingham’s industrial heritage.
Learning Benefits
Teacher commentary underscored applied learning benefits: research through archives, reinterpretation of logos and colour palettes, and audience feedback from real passengers.
Those points align with formal statements in the launch communications, which positioned the showcase as a pathway for future rail leaders and a celebration of the network’s past, present, and future.
Professional Artwork Also on Show at the Same Station
Alongside the student work, Birmingham New Street later unveiled a major exhibition by Birmingham-born artist John Austin during October 2025, adding nine large railway paintings at the Moor Street link near the Rotunda and on Navigation Street.
These pieces sit within the same celebratory year yet remain a professional commission distinct from the student-led drawings.
Clear separation matters when reporting station art: the June student showcase and the October professional exhibition complement one another but involve different artists, processes, and aims. Maintaining that distinction prevents confusion and preserves credit for participating schools and the commissioned painter.
Murals on the Historic Stockton & Darlington Corridor
Railway 200 has also produced true platform murals involving young people in the North East. On the S&DR Trail of Discovery, visual artists Kate Jackson and Adébayo Bolaji worked with local “Young Producers” to design and install permanent pieces at Heighington and Darlington stations in June 2025.
Those murals join other community works celebrating the 1825 Stockton & Darlington Railway bicentenary, the first modern railway, providing a living classroom for visitors and everyday passengers.
Anchoring art to historically meaningful locations strengthens engagement and creates a durable learning resource at the point of travel.
Shakespeare Statues and Other Regional Installations
Thirty-plus Shakespeare-inspired statues appeared at stations between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon during May 2025, greeting passengers with a themed trail tied to literary heritage and regional tourism.
The initiative adds another layer to how stations communicate place, story, and civic identity.
Community-led murals in Warwick’s Priory Park offer additional context for how local groups deliver art in rail-adjacent public spaces, reinforcing the bicentenary’s emphasis on participation.
Inspiration Train: How to See the Touring Exhibition
A dedicated exhibition train, Inspiration, links the platform art you notice locally with an immersive, four-car experience that explores rail’s past, present, and future.
The consist includes “Railway Firsts,” “Wonderlab on Wheels,” “Your Railway Future,” and a rotating “Partner Zone,” with free entry by advance booking.
Early stops in 2025 included Kidderminster’s Severn Valley Railway from June 27 to July 6, followed by Birmingham Moor Street from July 8 to 10, before the tour continued to major terminals and heritage lines.
- Kidderminster (Severn Valley Railway): June 27–July 6, 2025—public opening and launch.
- Birmingham Moor Street: July 8–10, 2025—city-centre access near New Street and the Bullring.
- London Euston: July 12–15, 2025—high-footfall hub for wider reach.
- London Waterloo: July 18–19, 2025—South Bank adjacency for family visits.
- Norwich station: August 7–10, 2025—regional stop extending the tour east.
Ongoing dates run through 2026 across England, Scotland, and Wales; ticketing remains free, though venue admission may apply at certain heritage sites. Confirm schedules and availability through the official Railway 200 channels before travelling.
How Schools Turn Ideas Into Platform Murals
Projects that land in public view usually follow a predictable path. Treat these steps as a compact field guide for turning classroom concepts into station-ready work that commuters respect.
- First comes the brief. Education partners, station managers, and community leads set themes, local industries, founders, or lineside stories—then align safeguarding and approvals. Birmingham’s student drawings followed exactly this pattern, and the S&DR murals show how professional artists can mentor youth while ensuring durability and safety around rail environments.
- Next arrives research and prototyping. Students dig through archives, study typography and colour systems, and sketch variations informed by civic history. Teachers frequently emphasize how these phases convert design-thinking into assessment evidence while preparing learners for portfolio reviews or arts pathways.
- Production and installation, then move from the classroom to the station. Curators and access managers coordinate out-of-hours fitting, materials selection, and wayfinding implications so exhibits complement signage and do not distract operational sightlines. Launch-day media capture—photos, quotes, and short explainers—helps communities understand the work and its educational value.
- Finally, projects build longevity. Stations benefit from scheduled refresh cycles and cleaning protocols; schools benefit from student reflection, skills mapping, and next-cohort handoffs. Exhibition trains like Inspiration extend impact by turning local successes into national conversations about rail careers.
Why This Matters for rail education and place-making
Public art at stations creates teachable moments in spaces where people already gather. Done well, student mural projects combine heritage research, visual communication, and civic pride with basic project management skills, briefs, deadlines, stakeholder feedback, and safety rules.
Evidence from 2025 installations shows that passengers engage with stories tied to local founders, employers, and innovators, giving students a genuine audience and a reason to care about precision and clarity.
The exhibition train’s “Your Railway Future” carriage explicitly showcases lesser-known roles, from asset management to signalling engineering, showing practical career routes that extend beyond the driver’s cab.
Practical Notes: If Planning a Visit
Expect free entry to the Inspiration train by advance booking; some heritage venues may require their own admission. Tour pages list locations and dates and explain accessibility provisions, queueing, and safety guidelines.
When viewing station artwork, follow posted instructions and keep clear of operational areas, especially when installations sit near active platforms. Birmingham New Street’s student work resides inside a high-traffic environment; visiting during off-peak periods improves viewing and photography.
If the professional John Austin exhibition is also on your list, the Moor Street link walkway near the Rotunda and Navigation Street façade provides two distinct vantage points.
Acknowledgements and Participating Schools
Birmingham’s students display the Woodrush High School, University of Birmingham School, BOA Creative, Digital and Performing Arts Academy, Fortis Academy, Bournville School, and Hazel Oak School.
Sector publications and local media reported consistent details, reinforcing the project’s city-wide footprint. Elsewhere, the S&DR Trail of Discovery credited Kate Jackson and Adébayo Bolaji, working with the Preston Park Museum’s Young Producers.
These collaborations illustrate a replicable model in which artists, heritage bodies, and education groups co-design murals that earn a place on station infrastructure.
Conclusion
Treat station murals as living classrooms tied to Railway 200’s wider program. Plan off-peak visits, confirm dates on official pages, and follow platform safety guidance.
Document pieces clearly and credit participating schools, artists, and station partners in captions. Translate observations into lesson plans, portfolios, or community proposals that extend projects beyond 2025.
Participation strengthens local identity and shows practical routes into rail and creative careers.
